The Vale was quiet. Too quiet.
The silver light of the moon still hung over the valley, but something about it had changed. It no longer shimmered with that strange, endless magic I had grown used to. Instead, the air carried a heaviness, like the last deep sigh of a place that had done its duty and was ready to rest.
I stood near the ancient pool where the Moon Goddess had marked me, still feeling the echo of her power in my chest. My heart hadn't been normal since—each beat sounded louder, like a drum calling me toward some future I couldn't yet see. The silver glow in my eyes burned faintly whenever I blinked, and every shadow seemed sharper, clearer. I was not the same Luciana who had first stumbled into this valley, unsure of her path.
But endings, I knew, always came after beginnings. And now one of those endings was waiting.
